Global action 2005-2006

A message from the ACT Coordinating
Office
ACT celebrated its 10th anniversary
in August 2005. This decade of working together as an alliance of more
than 100 churches and related agencies, assisting people in need in humanitarian
crises, culminated in an extraordinary and unprecedented year of disaster
response in 2005.

As a coordinating office, we facilitate
the responses to crises, operationally and financially, of the many members
of the alliance so that globally we are joined as Action by Churches Together.

As is tradition, our annual report is
titled "Global Action." For us, global action means not only
our worldwide presence through all our members and being an alliance that
saves lives and supports communities in emergencies, but emphasizes the
local expressions of the church and community-based approaches. By acting
locally, by putting capacity at the heart of who we are, we create the
foundation and building blocks that underpin our effective global action
together as an alliance.

Such action was exemplified by the swift
response after the tsunami in December 2004. Within just a few hours after
the huge waves struck, local members, supported by the alliance, were on
the front lines of the disaster response. The same holds true in many other
parts of the world: When emergencies happen, our local members are there
and continue to be there long after the emergencies are over. They assist
people in meeting immediate needs, restore hope through respecting each
person's dignity, and, in the longerterm, work with communities to re-establish
livelihoods and improve disaster preparedness.

An abundance of action and hope was needed
in 2005. ACT's response to the tsunami was the largest of its kind in our
ten-year history in terms of funds raised, geographical scope, and time
span. Our response continued throughout 2005 as we worked jointly with
Caritas Internationalis in Sudan's Darfur provinces. In October, yet another
major disaster unfolded as a devastating earthquake struck parts of Pakistan
and India a few weeks before winter set in. In terms of the number of people
forced from their homes, this disaster eclipsed the tsunami. As in many
cases, ACT members provided relief that saved many lives.

But too many people in too many places
remain, in a sense, still "forgotten" by the world-in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Colombia,
and Iraq, where conflicts continue to hold people hostage, with seemingly
no end in sight. ACT is there, understanding that we do not work alone
and that we value the gifts of all people of goodwill seeking to work collegially.

As we move into ACT's second decade of
existence, we are committed as an alliance to building upon our deeds and
actions together, not for our own sakes, but for the sake of the people
we serve. For 2006 and beyond, we will continue to respond to emergencies
together, seeking to create a vision of restored community that we believe
is God's intention for the human family, remembering those who may feel
forgotten by the world, restoring livelihoods, and holding high people's
dignity.

A year after the tsunami hit Sri Lanka's
coastal regions, Rev. Anil Silva of the Methodist Church in Matara, a predominantly
Buddhist area, described how his small church drew long lines of people
every day. Every day he was asked, "Why are you doing this? Why are
you working for us, day after day?" His tireless response was, "Even
if the gate to the church building is closed, the work goes on. The body
is in action."

In the many parts of the world where
people are struggling to overcome humanitarian disasters, we thank God
for the commitment, courage, and perseverance of our members and their
partners, often themselves caught in the same emergencies they respond
to on behalf of the alliance. We thank God for the communities that work
with us and allow us to walk with them, and for our members and partners
who continue to support this work-in action, in deed, and in hope.